4,614 research outputs found
Policy instruments in the Common Agricultural Policy
Policy changes in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) can be explained in terms of the exhaustion and long-term contradictions of policy instruments. Changes in policy instruments have reoriented the policy without any change in formal Treaty goals. The social and economic efficacy of instruments in terms of evidence-based policy analysis was a key factor in whether they were delegitimized. The original policy instruments were generally dysfunctional, but reframing the policy in terms of a multifunctionality paradigm permitted the development of more efficacious instruments. A dynamic interaction takes place between the instruments and policy informed by the predominant discourses
Shear-Wave Velocity Characterization of the USGS Hawaiian Strong-Motion Network on the Island of Hawaii and Development of an NEHRP Site-Class Map
To assess the level and nature of ground shaking in Hawaii for the purposes of earthquake hazard mitigation and seismic design, empirical ground-motion prediction models are desired. To develop such empirical relationships, knowledge of the subsurface site conditions beneath strong-motion stations is critical. Thus, as a first step to develop ground-motion prediction models for Hawaii, wspectral-analysis-of-surface-waves (SASW) profiling was performed at the 22 free-field U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) strong-motion sites on the Big Island to obtain shear-wave velocity (V(S)) data. Nineteen of these stations recorded the 2006 Kiholo Bay moment magnitude (M) 6.7 earthquake, and 17 stations recorded the triggered M 6.0 Mahukona earthquake. V(S) profiling was performed to reach depths of more than 100 ft. Most of the USGS stations are situated on sites underlain by basalt, based on surficial geologic maps. However, the sites have varying degrees of weathering and soil development. The remaining strong-motion stations are located on alluvium or volcanic ash. V(S30) (average V(S) in the top 30 m) values for the stations on basalt ranged from 906 to 1908 ft/s [National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) site classes C and D], because most sites were covered with soil of variable thickness. Based on these data, an NEHRP site-class map was developed for the Big Island. These new V(S) data will be a significant input into an update of the USGS statewide hazard maps and to the operation of ShakeMap on the island of Hawaii.George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) under NSF CMS-0086605FEMA HSFEHQ-06-D-0162, HSFEHQ-04-D-0733U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior 08HQGR0036Geotechnical Engineering Cente
Hash Functions Using Chaotic Iterations
International audienceIn this paper, a novel formulation of discrete chaotic iterations in the field of dynamical systems is given. Their topological properties are studied: it is mathematically proven that, under some conditions, these iterations have a chaotic behavior as defined by Devaney. This chaotic behavior allows us to propose a way to generate new hash functions. An illustrative example is detailed in order to show how to use our theoretical study in practice
Buprenorphine Physician Supply: Relationship with State-Level Prescription Opioid Mortality
Background: Buprenorphine is an effective treatment for opioid use disorder but the supply of buprenorphine physicians is currently inadequate to address the nation’s prescription opioid crisis. Perception of need due to rising opioid overdose rates is one possible reason for physicians to adopt buprenorphine. This study examined associations between rates of growth in buprenorphine physicians and prescription opioid overdose mortality rates in US states.
Methods: The total buprenorphine physician supply and number of physicians approved to treat 100 patients (per 100,000 population) were measured from June 2013 to January 2016. States were divided into two groups: those with rates of prescription opioid overdose mortality in 2013 at or above the median (\u3e 5.5 deaths per 100,000 population) and those with rates below the median. State-level growth curves were estimated using mixed-effects regression to compare rates of growth between high and low overdose states.
Results: The total supply and the supply of 100-patient buprenorphine physicians grew significantly (total supply from 7.7 to 9.9 per 100,000 population, p \u3c 0.001; 100-patient supply from 2.2 to 3.4 per 100,000 population, p \u3c 0.001). Rates of growth were significantly greater in high overdose states when compared to low overdose states (total supply b = 0.033, p \u3c 0.01; 100-patient b = 0.022, p \u3c 0.01).
Conclusions: The magnitude of the US prescription opioid crisis, as measured by the rate of prescription opioid overdose mortality, is associated with growth in the number of buprenorphine physicians. Because this observational design cannot establish causality, further research is needed to elucidate the factors influencing physicians’ decisions to begin prescribing buprenorphine
The Total Filmmaker: thinking of screenwriting, directing and editing as one role
As screenwriting continues to establish itself as a discrete discipline in academia, either in alignment with creative writing departments or film and media practice departments, there is a danger that such developments may entrench a distancing of the craft from the cinematic form itself and that such a distancing may ultimately reinforce the screenplay's propensity for dramaturgy and the dramatic, rather than the sensory and experiential of the cinematic. Closely related creative stages in telling cinematic stories include directing and editing and this article seeks to argue, with reference to personal screen practice, that screenwriting, directing and editing are, in fact, three variations of the same thing. The article proposes the notion of the Total Filmmaker who embraces all three aspects of the cinematic storyteller. If the ultimate aim is to create a narrative that fully utilises the unique properties of the cinematic form in telling a story, rather than being dominated by the theatricality of dramatically driven classical narratives. How might one explore the relationship between screenwriting, directing and editing? Can an integrated approach to creating the cinematic blueprint change the way we think of pedagogy and screenwriting
Lunar resources: Oxygen from rocks and soil
The first set of hydrogen reduction experiments to use actual lunar material was recently completed. The sample, 70035, is a coarse-grained vesicular basalt containing 18.46 wt. percent FeO and 12.97 wt. percent TiO2. The mineralogy includes pyroxene, ilmenite, plagioclase, and minor olivine. The sample was crushed to a grain size of less than 500 microns. The crushed basalt was reduced with hydrogen in seven tests at temperatures of 900-1050 C and pressures of 1-10 atm for 30-60 minutes. A capacitance probe, measuring the dew point of the gas stream, was used to follow reaction progress. Experiments were also conducted using a terrestrial basalt similar to some lunar mare samples. Minnesota Lunar Simulant (MLS-1) contains 13.29 wt. percent FeO, 2.96 wt. percent Fe2O3, and 6.56 wt. percent TiO2. The major minerals include plagioclase, pyroxene, olivine, ilmenite, and magnetite. The rock was ground and seived, and experiments were run on the less than 74- and 500-1168-micron fractions. Experiments were also conducted on less than 74-micron powders of olivine, pyroxene, synthetic ilmenite, and TiO2. The terrestrial rock and mineral samples were reduced with flowing hydrogen at 1100 C in a microbalance furnace, with reaction progress monitored by weight loss. Experiments were run at atmospheric pressure for durations of 3-4 hr. Solid samples from both sets of experiments were analyzed by Mossbauer spectroscopy, petrographic microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, tunneling electron microscopy, and x-ray diffraction. Apollo 17 soil 78221 was examined for evidence of natural reduction in the lunar environment. This sample was chosen based on its high maturity level (I sub s/FeO = 93.0). The FeO content is 11.68 wt. percent and the TiO2 content is 3.84 wt. percent. A polished thin section of the 90-150 micron size fraction was analyzed by petrographic microscopy and scanning electron microscopy
Fluctuation theorem for the effusion of an ideal gas
The probability distribution of the entropy production for the effusion of an
ideal gas between two compartments is calculated explicitly. The fluctuation
theorem is verified. The analytic results are in good agreement with numerical
data from hard disk molecular dynamics simulations.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, 2 table
Experimental investigation of the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal effect in low-Z targets
In the CERN NA63 collaboration we have addressed the question of the
potential inadequacy of the commonly used Migdal formulation of the
Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal (LPM) effect by measuring the photon emission by 20
and 178 GeV electrons in the range 100 MeV - 4 GeV, in targets of
LowDensityPolyEthylene (LDPE), C, Al, Ti, Fe, Cu, Mo and, as a reference
target, Ta. For each target and energy, a comparison between simulated values
based on the LPM suppression of incoherent bremsstrahlung is shown, taking
multi-photon effects into account. For these targets and energies, we find that
Migdal's theoretical formulation is adequate to a precision of better than
about 5%, irrespective of the target substance.Comment: 8 pages, 13 figure
Geometry-induced asymmetric diffusion
Past work has shown that ions can pass through a membrane more readily in one
direction than the other. We demonstrate here in a model and an experiment that
for a mixture of small and large particles such asymmetric diffusion can arise
solely from an asymmetry in the geometry of the pores of the membrane. Our
deterministic simulation considers a two-dimensional gas of elastic disks of
two sizes diffusing through a membrane, and our laboratory experiment examines
the diffusion of glass beads of two sizes through a metal membrane. In both
experiment and simulation, the membrane is permeable only to the smaller
particles, and the asymmetric pores lead to an asymmetry in the diffusion rates
of these particles. The presence of even a small percentage of large particles
can clog a membrane, preventing passage of the small particles in one direction
while permitting free flow of the small particles in the other direction. The
purely geometric kinetic constraints may play a role in common biological
contexts such as membrane ion channels.Comment: published with minuscule change
Ionization of hydrogen and hydrogenic ions by antiprotons
Presented here is a description of the ionization of hydrogen and hydrogenic
ions by antiproton-impact, based on very large scale numerical solutions of the
time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation in three spatial dimensions and on
analysis of the topology of the electronic eigenenergy surfaces in the plane of
complex internuclear distance. Comparison is made with other theories and very
recent measurements.Comment: RevTex document, 11 pages, 4 Postscript figures are available from
the authors, in press Phys. Rev. Let
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